Did Major Network Hint Change Could Be Coming For Jaguars?

The NFL Network is curiously sending one of their top insiders to this weekend's Jacksonville Jaguars-Detroit Lions game.

Dec 11, 2022; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson questions a call with field judge James Coleman (95) during the second half against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images / Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

There is not a whole lot of intrigue when it comes to Week 11's battle between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Detroit Lions.

The Lions are 8-1 and look very much so like a team that is ready to go on a Super Bowl run. The Jaguars are 2-8 and look like one of the top contenders for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Two teams that started in similar places in 2021 have drifted miles apart since then. Perhaps if the Jaguars had met their preseason expectations in 2024, this game would have been a potential marquee game of the week contender.

But they didn't, and it isn't. The Jaguars are entering the week as one of the biggest underdogs in Lions football history, and there isn't anything that can happen before Saturday that would change that.

That is why it is so surprising to see NFL Network is sending one of their top insiders in Tom Pelissero to the game on Sunday. Going back through the NFL Media's X account, it is the first time they are sending a reporter to a Jaguars game since Week 1.

Pelissero himself has been to a few other games this season, though they were more high-profile than this one considering he covered Philadelphia-Cincinnati and Houston-Minnesota.

🚨SUNDAY🚨@NFLGameDay Morning returns for Week 11! Here are our reporter's assignments: @StaceyDales -- GB vs. CHI@TomPelissero -- JAX vs. DET@CameronWolfe -- BAL vs. PIT

Insiders:@RapSheet @MikeGarafolo

📺| @nflnetwork & #NFLPlus
⏰| 9a ET pic.twitter.com/1KTQ3M08IK

— NFL Media (@NFLMedia) November 15, 2024

Maybe this is reading too much into the situation, but there only real storyline between the Jaguars and Lions this week is that it could serve as a potential swan song for head coach Doug Pederson. It isn't like owner Shad Khan to fire coaches mid-season, but the Jaguars have a bye week next week and if any game makes sense to be the final one for Pederson, it is this one.

With that said, don't expect the Jaguars to limp to a finish in Week 11. They have played playoff teams down to the wire in each of the last three weeks, and the Jaguars have shown no quit in the locker room.

"Yeah, I mean, I've seen it all season, and I think it comes with playing together, coaching together, working together," Pederson said on Friday.

"Obviously, going through this is a tough stretch that we've been through, beginning last season to now. But again, this group hangs together, they hang tough. Confidence in each other, and that's really what it takes in order to get yourself out of these situations.”

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